Royal Challenges
Royal Challenges are the ways that dragons decide who the next queen of the tribe will be, involving a challenge from a sister, daughter, niece or granddaughter, then a fight to the death between the current queen and the challenger. Only three royal Challenges have been witnessed in the series, in Escaping Peril, where Queen Tourmaline/Queen Ruby challenged Queen Scarlet for the throne officially, in The Hidden Kingdom, where Queen Glory challenges the current RainWing Queens, and in Darkness of Dragons, when Onyx challenged Queen Thorn for the throne. It was also mentioned in The Lost Heir that Princess Orca challenged Queen Coral, but was unsuccessful. At least in two of the tribes, challenges appear to be a public event, allowing other dragons to spectate the match while the challenger fights the queen for the throne. These two tribes include the SkyWings and RainWings. We can not be sure whether or not normal SandWing challenges are often a public event or if it was just that way because it wasn't normal. It is unknown how exactly the IceWings, MudWings, SeaWings, HiveWings, SilkWings, (and probably both LeafWings and NightWings) go through their challenges and what the specific rules are, but they are most likely quite similar to how the other tribes do them. The SandWings have the Eye of Onyx given to them after the battle, it kills the opposing contestant if she tries to take it and does not deserve it or if one of them is deemed worthy before they kill each other. The MudWing queen will never be challenged by her own sister because of sibling loyalty, and instead is challenged by daughters/nieces/granddaughters, etc. RainWings RainWings, unlike most other Tribes, turned their royal challenge into a series of games of some sorts. They used to fight for the throne like every other tribe, however, they changed it so that it would fit in with their peaceful philosophy. Instead of a fight, the queen being challenged chooses a competition that shows how well RainWings can use their natural talents, such as a venom shooting contest, a camouflage contest, as well as a few others. Prior to the short expanse of time when there were multiple queens taking turns the challenge would be between the current queen and one of her daughters. A RainWing royal challenge was witnessed in The Hidden Kingdom between Glory and the five now-previous queens, Ex-Queen Magnificent, Ex-Queen Grandeur, Ex-Queen Fruit Bat, Ex-Queen Dazzling, and Ex-Queen Exquisite. In that challenge, the challenges included: tree gliding, fruit gathering, a flower hunt, hide and seek, and venom shooting. At the time of the challenge Splendor was being held captive by the NightWings, so the RainWings queens simply did the games with 5 dragons instead of 6. Rules *Only a daughter, granddaughter, sister, or niece of the current queen can challenge for the throne. Sisters-in-law, cousins, and other relatives cannot try for the throne. *The fight must end in the death of the current queen in order for the princess to become queen (except for the RainWings). **It is unknown if this rule remains, but according to Ruby's law in Escaping Peril, a SkyWing queen that abandons her throne leaves it forever. *Male dragons (Such as sons, brothers, and nephews of the queen) cannot challenge for the throne, nor do they seem to have much power over decisions in the kingdom. Kings have as much power as the Queen gives them (King Gill ran the Sea Kingdom while Queen Coral protected her egg, but no other king has been seen with significant power, except for King Darkstalker.) **There was an exception in Talons of Power when Darkstalker tried to challenge Queen Glory for the NightWings. *As shown in Escaping Peril, the queen is permitted to change any challenge rules, at least for SkyWings. *As shown in Escaping Peril and The Hidden Kingdom, the current queen chooses the location of the battle. This may be different in some kingdoms (such as the Kingdom of Sand, where they have an arena where fights traditionally take place). Category:RainWing History Category:SkyWing History Category:SeaWing History Category:IceWing History Category:NightWing History Category:MudWing History Category:SandWing History Category:All Tribe History